s and 1,680 miles of coastline, this justifies why the Swedish have a passion for boats and summerhouses. With a land area of only 174,000 square miles, it is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe. Forest and wood products cover more than half the land, which is a very important resource for the people. In the north, mountains and forests predominate, while in the south is characterized by wooded hills and fertile plains. The North is also known as the Norrland, where, it compromises the northern three-fifths of Sweden and its rolling landscape of hills and mountains, forests, and large river valleys. Along this borderline are big deposits of iron ores. This gives rise to Sweden’s oldest industrial region, Bergslagen. Even further north are the copper, lead and zinc ores. The western border follows the Scandinavian mountain range where its peaks rising 1,000-2,000 meters above sea level. Sweden’s largest rivers originate in these mountains. With only 1,625,000 people in it’s capital, Stockholm is the largest city of the country. Sweden is also one of the world’s oldest democracies, governed by a popularly elected parliament and at the head of the state, a king who has purely ceremonial functions. Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of government based on a one-chamber legislature. A majority of the Swedish Parliament approves of the selection a Prime Minister who forms a Government. (The Swedish Parliament is also known as the Riksdag. Members of this Government head some ten ministries, which come up with policies in their respective fields and supervise a larger number of agencies, which then enforce the laws of the country. When the Government has a proposal they call it a bill. The bill then goes on to The Chamber and is looked at by Party groups and Committees who write reports on the bill which then goes back to The Chamber and then sent back t...
